# Should Barry Bonds ever play again? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 10, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-barry-bonds-ever-play-again/303266 "2005-05-10T19:03:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-barry-bonds-ever-play-again/303266/1 "2005-05-10T19:03:23Z")
Inspired by [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=315907). Does anyone take him seriously anymore? Say he did try again for a record. Would the majority of fans consider it genuine? ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-barry-bonds-ever-play-again/303266/2 "2005-05-10T19:47:31Z")
Of course it would be genuine. He should play if he still wants to and a team is willing to pay him. I don’t see how being “taken seriously” means anything here. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-barry-bonds-ever-play-again/303266/3 "2005-05-10T20:31:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Does anyone take him seriously anymore? [102 Intentional walks?](http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/team/player_career.jsp?player_id=111188) Yeah. ---
**Author:** ![Treviathan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/838e76/32.png) [@Treviathan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treviathan)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-barry-bonds-ever-play-again/303266/4 "2005-05-10T22:44:39Z")
This is a bit of a tangent, but an important one. As an avid baseball fan who once could have told you George Sisler’s career batting average without blinking an eye, I admit I’m almost ashamed to be asking the following question: Is it expressly written anywhere that the use of steroids in MLB is forbidden, and grounds for suspension/expulsion, prior to this year? If we found a video tape of Barry Bonds, from 2001, injecting pure, unadulterated steroids directly into his jugular vein, is that grounds for…well, anything, aside from the shadow that’s suddenly cast on his records? ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-barry-bonds-ever-play-again/303266/5 "2005-05-11T00:16:52Z")
[QUOTE=Treviathan If we found a video tape of Barry Bonds, from 2001, injecting pure, unadulterated steroids directly into his jugular vein, is that grounds for…well, anything, aside from the shadow that’s suddenly cast on his records?[/QUOTE] Mental health thereapy. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-barry-bonds-ever-play-again/303266/6 "2005-05-11T02:27:04Z")
I’m still not convinced Barry will play again. Between the hacks who keep screwing his knee up, the two grand jury investigations (BALCO and tax evasion) and his personality, I think he may be done. That said, I think Barry’s biggest mistake is going the steroid route to begin with. He was going to be a HoFer, with the steals and the pre-juice power he showed in Pittsburgh. Was it really worth trading health and 40+ SBs a season just to hit balls into McCovey Cove? He might come back next year, play 3 days a week and then get traded to an AL club where he can DH. Someone (Steinbrenner) is dumb enough to overpay for a fragile, roided-up hitter, as long as he doesn’t flame out Giambi-style. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-barry-bonds-ever-play-again/303266/7 "2005-05-11T03:13:27Z")
I never liked Barry Bonds, and I hope he’s finished. But if he’s ever healthy enough to come back, why wouldn’t he? Presumably, he’d still be a dangerous hitter and could still make a lot of money for playing a kid’s game. He’d be silly to retire now, if he has a choice in the matter. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-barry-bonds-ever-play-again/303266/8 "2005-05-11T03:21:35Z")
> [@Treviathan](#): > > Is it expressly written anywhere that the use of steroids in MLB is forbidden, and grounds for suspension/expulsion, prior to this year? The current rule, IIRC, was created prior to either the 2003 or 2004 season. Before that, no, the rules on steroids were extremely vague to nonexistent. You really couldn’t have suspended someone for them without inviting a devastating lawsuit. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Alive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7993a0/32.png) [@Dead\_Alive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Alive)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-barry-bonds-ever-play-again/303266/9 "2005-05-11T05:57:16Z")
Given that steroids and many other performance enhancing drugs have always been popular in baseball (yes, Hank Aaron himself was probably using many performance enhancers) why does Bonds get the lion’s share of the hate? ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-barry-bonds-ever-play-again/303266/10 "2005-05-11T06:05:36Z")
> [@Dead Alive](#): > > Given that steroids and many other performance enhancing drugs have always been popular in baseball (yes, Hank Aaron himself was probably using many performance enhancers) why does Bonds get the lion’s share of the hate? Honestly, he’s a convenient target. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-barry-bonds-ever-play-again/303266/11 "2005-05-11T07:36:26Z")
I try to keep “should” out of it when I get into these discussions. I’m not sure there is any morally correct action (or whatever) to take; just a series of possible outcomes, none of them especially pleasant because Bonds is only part of a larger problem. My personal preference or hope is that he doesn’t play again. I think it would be slightly better for baseball. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-barry-bonds-ever-play-again/303266/12 "2005-05-11T14:11:35Z")
I dislike Bonds intensely, so I kinda hope he tries for a come-back and flops miserably. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-barry-bonds-ever-play-again/303266/13 "2005-05-11T15:16:49Z")
> [@Dead Alive](#): > > Given that steroids and many other performance enhancing drugs have always been popular in baseball (yes, Hank Aaron himself was probably using many performance enhancers) why does Bonds get the lion’s share of the hate? IMO, because he’s not all sunshine and flowers around the media/other people. ---
**Author:** ![SlowMindThinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@SlowMindThinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlowMindThinking)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-barry-bonds-ever-play-again/303266/14 "2005-05-11T18:18:18Z")
> [@Dead Alive](#): > > Given that steroids and many other performance enhancing drugs have always been popular in baseball (yes, Hank Aaron himself was probably using many performance enhancers) why does Bonds get the lion’s share of the hate? Bonds gets the lion’s share, because he is the one chasing Ruth and Aaron. I gave up baseball a few years back. The final straw was when Bonds went from being built kind of like me, to being built like Arnold. Ruth and his generation clearly didn’t use any performance enhancing drugs. I doubt Mantle’s did. Until your quote, I had never heard any rumor that Mays and Aaron did. But, it was pretty obvious that Bonds and Sosa did. McGwire’s natural size made him less obvious, but he at least admitted to some while playing,. The player’s union resistance to testing wiped out any respect I had for them. You shouldn’t have to risk your health to pursue your greatest gift. As a father, I worry about the impact of performance enhancing drugs on our kids. And, as an amatuer athlete, I feel competing against users is unfair.